Christmas venues

I shall be at the following venues this Christmas season ; Joy Fox's house ( see above )

and at 52, Carlysle Road , Hove for the Open House ritual ( the last week end in November and the first two week ends in December. ) I shall also be at the Great Dixter Christmas fair which will take place in the beautiful Hall there, this week end and sharing a stall with Belen Gomez

www.belengomez.com . It is open between 10 -4 and here is a sneak preview of some of the fairy wares that I shall be showing ! Please note that at Festive Fox I shall be exhibiting my water colour alphabet prints and some garden embroideries. At Carlysle Rd there will be fairies and also my dolls and the greetings cards that they feature on will be on sale for the first time.

Here are some new hanging fairies that I have made in a much more fanciful style this year. (£15.) They are 9cms in height.

And in a box with their secret name inside they are £17.

Couldn't resist making some fairy bears ... £20 in a box with their name - this one is Tatiana.

Meet Custard who decided he didn't want to dress up !

Followed by Bluebell.

Last in line is a tree top fairy measuring 18cms high , She is £30 and I have made this range to be very ornate with embroidered dresses in lovely silks and organdy fabrics with frills and furbelows - to hopefully be handed down as a family heirloom for the top of the tree. I always remember when the tree fairy came out of her tissue wrapping once a year - it was always the most magical part of the fun of dressing the tree and I have found it hard to find anything that is precious enough to fill those shoes in more modern times - which is what got me making fairies in the first place !

Is it too soon to say ' Happy Christmas ' ?!

Mermaid Mad

After returning from a trip to Cornwall recently I have been embroidering mermaids madly ! Here are some of the loopy ladies ... Above is 'Blue Maid'. She measures 15x11cms

( embroidered area. ) Below is a detail of a bigger piece.

'Marina' is holding a tiny looking glass fashioned from a sequin and pearl beads. I just love getting this tiny ! She is 12x6cms.

Waiting in line is 'Sea Bed', so named after the sea urchins and star fish around her ( this one seems to have got caught in a current of threads ... she is 15x9 cms.

And this 'Lorelei' is 7x10cms and has a pearl in a shell for company ( I did beachcombe

the tiniest shells whilst I was there and have got some lovely big mussel shells which I have filled with tiny blue and white maids - yet to be photographed. )

One of my newest lines are these little mermaids sitting in slipper shells which I have painted and decorated with little sparkly bits - they come in a box with their secret name written on a scroll in the lid and I am selling them from here at £1o each plus 50p for p&p, multiples , the same postage. Please just specify a colour if you are interested.

More news soon of where I will be showing my work in the lead up to Christmas ... now back to the sewing machine - it's red hot at the moment !

PS Thank you for all the lovely comments you have written to me ... always lovely to receive when working from home- alone !

Alpha Betty !

A is for Acorn
Having enjoyed my 'Fox' painting so much I have now embarked on the rather ambitious project of painting an alphabet of plants. I have since realised that one starts a series like this in good heart and with plenty of enthusiasm but by the time you have reached ' l', 'm' and ' n'

that energy starts to burn itself out ! I also set out to diligently work my way through letter by letter in sequence but that didn't pan out either !

B is for Buttercup

C is for Campion

Well I didn't quite jump this far ahead ... but have decided to work these 6 inch squares of water colour up in batches that I intersperse with doing other work. Eventually I think they will be printed up in to cards and I'm hoping that people will be inspired to buy them by seeing them as friends and family's initials ( as well as to keen gardeners ! )

W is for Wisteria

R is for Rose

S is for Snowdrop

Yes, Winter is round the corner, though I can't believe this as I type in 30 degrees of heat !

Other news is that I am having a web site designed to sell my dolls and fairies from. I'm very excited by the prospect but it has been a lot of hard work to get the work photographed and the site designed to have the right atmosphere - and then there is the small matter of learning how to manage it when it is up and running . More stress no doubt but I'm hoping it will be worth it in the end. It will be linked to this blog and I'm hoping to have more news on it when I next write. There will also be a card section and I can't wait to reveal my doll cards to you all !

New Illustrations

A few weeks ago I was given a lovely commission through my agency ( Central Illustration Agency in London ) to produce a water colour for a very prestigious car company ( can't show you the image until it's been published - suffice to say I was very happy that I didn't have to put a car in it ! ) I was so pleased with the result that it has inspired me to make more images and update my presence on the CIA website. I have been feeling guilty for some time that I have been concentrating on the dolls and fairies to the detriment of my illustration career ( which pays a lot better than craft ) so with the incentive of money behind me I have dusted down the paint box and here are some of the results. The fairy above is an example of the kind of image that got me the job in the first place. .. I had quite a few fairies representing my work and knew that I had to widen the net a bit for a better chance of more varied illustration work. I have mostly shied away from depicting animals but for some reason I can't explain I've been having a bit of a run on them and I am happy doing them.

Sea Horse, water colour, 15 x12 inches

Partridge 9x12 inches ( might use this as my Christmas card this year .)

Crab 13 inches square

Fox 16x12 inches

Had such fun with this one that a friend suggested I work on a floral alphabet ... will keep you posted

Playing with my dollies

Daisy , 7 inches high Well the festival is over and good fun it was too. In the meantime I have been making some new dolls ... I have called this batch 'Plain Janes' , as their dresses are made from plain cottons and I have simplified their faces ( I've realised that they can look a bit 'spooky' with too much detail in them. ) I have given them glass beaded eyes and softly painted lips and eyebrows ... they are all properly dressed with white cotton knickers ( no one can seem to resist looking up a dolly's dress ! ) Their socks and shoes are painted on ( the latter in a shiny 'patent' black.

The first two girls have one jointed elbow so they can hold their teddy ( which I have made from needle felting. ) Playing with them seems to have brought out my ' inner child' ... being made from polymer clay they have a very satisfying weight about them and feel very nice in the hand.

Trixie , 7 inches high

Rosie , 4.4 inches high

Minty , 4 inches and Meg , 4.5 inches

Milly , 5 inches high

Lucille , 5 inches high

Meg and Smarties

Dora , 5 inches high

Hove Festival House

Here are the details of the new Open House in Hove where I'm showing all things fairy !

Nina Green who has set up Cherry Picked For You is using the Festival as an opportunity to show people some of the work she has on her exciting new web site and I'm looking forward to meeting some of the makers. I'm splitting myself in two with showing in two houses, so May will be even more hectic than usual, but good to get work out of the studio and have an airing ...

and me too for that matter.

My dolls are being let out again ...

And the folk fairies are going out for the first time ...

Also showing will be some of my embroidered pictures ...

So do came along and say 'hi' , if I'm there !